


It's The Thrill

by brokenhighways



Series: The Thrill [1]
Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Light-Hearted, M/M, Physical Therapy, Snark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-28 04:14:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11409993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenhighways/pseuds/brokenhighways
Summary: Jude is a physical therapist and Zero is an injury prone basketball player. Sparks fly when they cross each other's paths.





	It's The Thrill

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what this is or how it turned out this way, but... enjoy?

i.

The game is nearing the end of the third quarter when Zero feels the exact moment that his hamstring goes. There's a soft _twang,_ a stab of pain and he's forced to signal to Pete. After he's subbed off, they  stick him on a gurney, take him straight to the medical examination room and and leave him there on his own.  

Considering that he's the _star_ of the team, it's a bit rude. They could have at least given him a pretty girl to look at. Instead he's forced to make do with his manager's ugly mug when he shows up a few minutes later. Clive is sort of hapless at his job, but he's got three kids, an unhappy wife and a former assistant who stole half of his savings. Zero can't help keeping him on out of pity.

“The team doctor should be on his way soon, but we've got the PT coming down here in a second,” Clive says without looking up from his phone.

Zero blinks at him. Everybody knows that he doesn't wait for people. They wait for _him._

“What have I told you about _waiting_ , Clive?”

Clive frowns. “Zero, if I listened to every dumb thing that you said, I wouldn't be the manager I am today.”

“In that case, you're fired,” Zero says.

Clive's phone rings loudly before he can respond, and he exits the room without a backwards glance.

“Jackass,” Zero mutters, even though he knows that Clive will be back eventually.

He's leaning back and trying to get comfortable when the door opens to reveal a tall, dark haired man who looks like he's gotten lost. From the soft facial features to his light eyes, he looks like a fucking puppy, but there's something about him that captivates Zero's attention.

And yeah, Zero might be a ladies man, but he's never let that get in the way of going after what he wants.

“Well, hello,” he says, and he would leer or wink seductively but that's hard to do when he's leaning on his back and craning his neck awkwardly.

The man blinks at him and stammers out a, “H-hi,” before he sets a file down on the cabinet adjacent to the bed.

“I'm Zero,” Zero introduces himself, not caring if it's redundant. He's a gentleman after all. “And you are?”

“Standing in for the team's regular physical therapist,” the man answers. “I'm Doctor Kinkade.”

Zero perks up that because let's face it, there's no way that the Devils are going to win tonight and absolutely no chance that he _won't_ be blamed for it. He has to take whatever victory he can, no matter how small.

Not that there's anything small about the good doctor.

“You got a first name?” Zero asks in his best seductive tone. He tries to give Doctor Kinkade a smouldering look, but it probably looks more pained than anything. His leg is starting to throb like a bitch, he's fucking _tired_ and in desperate need of a shower.

“Doctor works for me,” Doctor Kinkade says slowly, like he thinks Zero's some kind of moron. It's a far cry from the almost shy expression the doctor was wearing a few minutes ago.

Zero snorts to himself. “Alright, doc, show me what you've got.”

Doctor Kinkade rolls his eyes and reaches over to squeeze some antibacterial foam onto his hands. Zero wrinkles his nose because now he's thinking about germs, but on the other hand, the doctor _does_ have nice hands.

Hands that he hopes to become acquainted with very, very soon.  

“Well?” Zero asks after the rather perfunctory examination, even though he's certain that he's damaged his hamstring.

“You've pulled your hamstring,” Kinkade confirms, eyeing Zero warily. “Luckily, you'll live. Put some ice on it and stay off the leg.”

“Cool,” Zero replies, not wanting to think about how he's had way too many injuries this season and about the way that there's been talking about signing another forward “So, are you coming to the after party at the Playground?”

Doctor Kinkade practically laughs. “No. I don't think I'm on the guest list.”

Zero pulls himself off the bed slowly, and meets Doctor Kinkade’s eyes. “I can get you on the guest list.”

Doctor Kinkade's eyes narrow suspiciously before he says, “Thanks, but I have plans. See you later, Zero.”

With that he's gone, leaving Zero wondering when somebody last said no to him.

ii.

The next game is much better. They beat Miami by double points and Zero spends most of it on court. The team doctor sends him to PT as a precaution and he when he walks into the medical room, Doctor Kinkade is already there waiting with a nonplussed expression on his face.

At least until he sees Zero.

His face flushes slightly, but he merely nods briefly.

“Hey, Jude,” Zero says. Clive might be useless but he's good at finding out the names of tall, dark, handsome doctors. That's worth keeping him around. “We meet again.”

“Unfortunately,” Jude snaps abrasively before his eyes widen and he adds, “Although, I'm always happy to work with such a great team and a player of your caliber.”

He sounds like he's at a job interview. Considering that he's new around here, that’s maybe not surprising, but Zero's not his boss.

“Dude, relax, you don't have to bullshit around with me,” Zero says easily, deciding to drop the flirty exterior for now. Some people require a gentler approach; Zero's a gentleman. He can do _gentle._

“In that case, we should be done here in twenty minutes,” Jude tells him. “From looking at your treatment plan, your issue is your back?”

Zero grumbles but he doesn't answer. His back issue is the fucking bane of existence, and he's getting a little tired of the ice baths and pain injections. He pulls off his shirt without fanfare and lies on his front in silence, not really wanting to get into a huge discussion about it.

Jude seems to sense his discomfort because he doesn't say much after that. He just gets on with his job; kneading at the muscle and systematically untying the knots that have built up. His hands are like a searing brand on Zero’s skin and he closes his eyes and gets lost in the sensation.

If he happens to daydream about Jude's hands being on him in a different context, that's between him and his subconscious.

For now.

By the time Jude's done, Zero’s feeling much better than he ever has after a session with his very expensive chiropractor.

“Anyone ever tell you that you have healing hands?”

It's not his best line, but he's playing hurt - he's allowed to be off his game.

Jude ignores him in favour of cleaning up and turning to Zero's file. He unclips his pen from his jacket pocket and starts writing slowly and methodically.

“So, what are you doing later?” Zero asks casually when he gets bored of watching the pen move across the paper.

Jude glances up briefly before he looks back down at the file.

“Last time I checked, you were into women,” he says stiffly. “So I don't know what it is that you're trying to do here but it's not working.”

Zero grins, cocky and wide. “You looked me up.”

Jude eyes him darkly. “A guy with a reputation like yours doesn't need to be looked up. Word of mouth usually does the trick.”

The smile falls off Zero's face shortly after Jude gathers his things, mutters a goodbye and leaves.

Zero's a lot of things, but short of confidence is not one of them.

That doesn't explain why he suddenly feels like he's fucked up badly somehow.

Later that night at the Playground, he complains bitterly to Jelena, the captain of the Devil Girls, the teams in-house dancers.

“Why are you talking to me?” she snaps after Zero repeats his story for the third time.

“We used to date, maybe you can put in a good word for me.”

Jelena rolls her eyes, grabs her drink and leaves before Zero can attempt to bargain with her.

He spends the rest of the night nursing his cold beer and feeling sorry himself.

iii.

This time Jude's waiting by Zero's car. Zero attempts to turn back when he sees him but Jude calls out his name and Zero's not about to do anything silly like _run away._

He's a grown ass man.

A grown ass man who _really_ wants to run away, but still. He has a reputation to uphold.

“What the hell is this?” Jude demands when Zero reaches his car. Jude is holding up the custom made Rolex that Zero maybe bought and then had delivered to Jude this morning.

See, the thing is that Zero doesn't date.

He doesn't _woo_ people, or even have meaningful conversations with anyone besides his own reflection (What? At least he's honest). Usually when he wants someone, it doesn't take more than a sly look and a few suggestive words.

Star power tends to do a lot of the work.

Obviously, Jude is immune to all of that. He doesn't even have any social media profiles so Zero is being forced to do this _old school_ style. Clive assured him that an expensive gift is the way to go, but the murderous look on Jude's face is yet another indication that Clive doesn't ever know what the fuck he's talking about.

“It's a gift,” Zero hears himself saying, “From me to you.”

“Yeah, I gathered that from the egregious message,” Jude retorts, glancing down to read it, “‘ _Hi, Jude, thanks for rubbing me the right way. Wanna do it again? Zero_.’”

Zero blinks.

That was _definitely_ not what he'd intended to write, but he can't blame Clive for the faux pas. Firstly, he should have written the message himself and secondly, it's exactly the kind of cheesy bullshit he'd write if Jude was some girl that he was desperate to mess around with. No strings attached.

He's not really figured out _why_ he can't get Jude out of his mind, but he definitely wants there to be strings attached.

“I can't keep it,” Jude adds when Zero doesn't answer. “It's against the Code of Ethics to receive gifts from patients who want _preferential treatment_.”

Jude manages make those two words sound as sordid as possible and Zero realises that he's going to have to play dumb.

“It's just a gift to say thank you for the great medical treatment, that's all,” he insists.

Jude smiles suddenly, and it's more of a _I really want to punch you in the face_ smile than a _I really want to get into your pants_ smile, but at this point, Zero will take whatever he gets.

“Where's everyone else's gifts then? After all, there's more than one person on the medical team,” Jude points out.

Zero's eyes widen in horror.

One Rolex is fine, two he can maybe deal with, but enough for the _entire_ medical team? Hell no.

“You know, what, _fine_ , the watch may have been an oversight, but I can't take it back,” he says glumly.

For some reason, he feels like he's been rejected _again_. Something cold and hard swirls in his stomach and all he wants to is go home and curl up in bed, like he's Tobey Maguire pining over Kirsten Dunst in Spider-Man.

He's never felt like that over a _guy_ before, hell, not even a girl.

Suddenly, he feels the urgent need to get out of here as quickly as possible.

“Why not?” Jude asks as Zero rounds past him and unlocks his car. Zero makes a point of climbing in and rolling the window down. Jude watches him closely with narrowed eyes.

“I might have had it engraved,” he mumbles because now that he's thinking it through, this isn't his best move.

Not if he wants to be taken seriously.

Jude practically gapes at him. “Let me get this straight, you've only ever seen me _twice._ We don't know each other. I don't even know your real name, but you thought it was okay to _buy_ me a Rolex and get it _engraved_.”

Zero grimaces, because when Jude puts it lIke that...He _does_ sound like some sort of weirdo. Although, in his defense, he didn't write some bullshit quote he looked up on Google. It's just Jude's name.

“Look, I'm sorry, okay, I'm not good at _this_?” he says with a wary sigh.

Jude quirks an eyebrow as he looks down at Zero. “This?”

“Trying to...ask someone out.”

Jude rolls his eyes. “That's what this is? You really expect me to believe that? Let me guess, you're hazing the new guy? Is Ashton Kutcher going to jump out with a camera crew to film my reaction?”

Zero stares at him. “I'm being serious. Plus, PUNK’D isn't even on any--”

Zero's cut off abruptly when Jude tosses the package through the open window, only narrowly missing his face.

“Whatever,” Jude says, before he stomps off, muttering loudly enough that Zero can hear him.

iv.  


In what will go down as one of his dumbest decisions, Zero finds himself casually broaching the topic with Derek. They're at practise, running drills together and they don't really have much in common anyway. Zero figures that talking about _relationships_ will break the ice until they can both escape and go back to not acknowledging each other.

“So, you're with that dancer, right? Pete's daughter,” Zero says conversationally. Derek stops mid move and eyes him suspiciously. “How's that working out for you?”

“What are you up to now?” Derek asks because apparently Zero's a huge mastermind who's always plotting away and rubbing his hands gleefully.

“Relax, man. I just need some advice,” Zero replies defensively. “So...How did you two get together?”

Derek frowns, but he shrugs and says, “I put the moves on her but that didn't really work. If you're sincere, it should _feel_ that way. No flashy gimmicks, or extravagant gifts. Just be yourself. Be patient.”

“Wasn't she dating another guy when you first met her?” Zero queries, because he's not even going to front. He reads the Devils’ fan forums online.

Derek nods slowly. “She was with German, yeah.”

“So, wait, she was with German and then, they broke up and you and her started dating. Was there a gap or were you the rebound guy?”

Derek nods. “ _Twice_ actually, which is a funny because... _._ Wait. What are you getting at exactly? Rebound guy?”

Zero holds his hands up innocently. “I’m just trying to understand.”

Derek glares at him. “Get out of my face.”

Zero doesn't wait to be told twice.

v.  


Even though Derek's relationship probably won't last, Zero decides to follow some of his advice. If a broken clock is right twice a day maybe some of what Derek had to say isn't entirely useless.

Zero's a rational guy. He can be patient.

“Are you still obsessed with this physical therapist guy?” Clive asks from where he's noisily eating Zero's previously untouched sandwich in a crowded cafe downtown.

Zero's research tells him that this is Jude's favourite lunch spot, hence why he's here. What's unclear is why Clive tagged along. However, Zero tells himself that it'll be good to have a buffer, just in case anything goes horribly wrong.

By the time Jude arrives, Clive is on his third caesar chicken salad wrap and Zero is three seconds away from _strangling_ him.

It's with great relief that he finds himself watching Jude's gaze dart around the outside seating area. He practically springs out of his seat when Jude catches sight of them.

Clive snort is laced with amusement and Zero doesn't hesitate to elbow him _hard._ It figured that he'd get the world's most incompetent wingman.

“You've got problems,” Clive mutters angrily. “Fucking asshole.”

Zero ignores him in favour of waving Jude over. “Jude, hey, there's a free spot here!”

Jude looks around anyway, and sighs audibly when he sees that there are no other free spaces.

He walks over and sits across Zero slowly, like it's the last thing he wants to do.

“Really? You're stalking me now?” Jude says in disbelief.

Zero splutters noisily before he gathers enough composure to say, “Hey, I was here first. Let's call it a happy coincidence. Anyway, what are you having, my treat? I love this place. Clive and I come here all the time.”

This is the second time they've been here and that's purely because Zero hates this place. His words might have been _stuffy_ and _pretentious_ but he's willing to let that slide for now.

Clive pauses mid bite to stare at Zero like he has three heads. Zero steadfastly ignores him in favour of handing Jude a menu. He already knows that Jude always orders the chicken and bacon sub, but actually revealing that _would_ be stalkery so he plays it cool.

“What I'd like is to have is a nice quiet lunch by myself,” Jude says with a sardonic smile. “Your treat.”

Zero supposes that he walked into that one, but for the sake of his end goal, he fishes out his wallet and throws a couple of bills onto the table.

“Fair enough,” he says easily. “Enjoy your lunch. C’mon, Clive, let's go.”

“Actually, Clive can stay,” Jude says, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “We'll see _you_ later.”

Clive chuckles heartily, and laughs even harder when Zero mouths _'you are so fired_ ’ at him.

He leaves without fanfare, but he's forced to question his sanity five minutes later when he's mobbed by fans and has to call Clive and let him know that _establishing a rapport with Jude_ and _eating the world's greatest chicken and bacon sub_ do not trump his safety.

vi.

The next time Zero sees Jude, they're back in the medical room and there's no flirting, in fact there's barely any talking. There's a game the next day and Zero's lower back is protesting bitterly. The doctors don't think it's anything career threatening but they tell him to keep up with the physical therapy so he ends up back here. On this same stupid bed, with the same throbbing pain making his life a misery.

He's not really in a talking mood.

Jude's in his professional mode as he explains everything and Zero just listens quietly.

“Okay, so, we're going try a TENS unit today. I'll give you one to take with you, but I just want to observe you here. It should take about an hour or so for you to fully feel the effects and then we can work on finding the right settings and determine how effective it is for you.”

Zero remains silent even while Jude's attaching the electrodes to his skin and hooking the connectors to the machine.

“Are you okay?” Jude asks after twenty minutes of quietness. “I think this is the longest you've gone without talking. It's really weird.”

Zero looks up to face Jude and shrugs nonchalantly. It's not that he _doesn't_ want to talk to Jude, it's that the pain makes him lash out and say things he doesn't mean to.  Plus, it's not like Jude's been begging him to speak before now anyway. If anything, he should be grateful for the silence.

“I haven't seen you on the entertainment blogs for a while,” Jude informs him, because apparently he suddenly can't stop talking. “You usually have some girl hanging over you every week, but apparently you're going through a rare dry spell.”

Even though he's trying to sound blasé, it's obvious that Jude's extremely curious about Zero's nighttime proclivities (or lack thereof).

“So, you actually looked me up this time,” Zero responds, because this is different. This is Jude being interested enough to try and find out something about him.

Jude's face reddens and Zero has to fight off a grin because this is _progress._

“Maybe,” Jude says. “I wasn't expecting you to leave the coffee shop lthe other day, you know. You don't strike me as the kind of guy that lets people tell him what to do.”

Zero shoves down his inner moonwalk and tries to play it off. “I'm not a _complete_ asshole. You wanted me to leave you alone so I did.”

Jude clears his throat and starts to fidget uncomfortably. “Your manager had some interesting things to say about you.”

Zero's carefully stoic mask falls off his face.

_Fucking Clive._

“Everything he said was a lie.”

Jude laughs and shakes his head. “He told me that you would say that. He also told me that your real name was Abstinence. I should have known that he was lying.”

Zero grins back at him but he's internally rolling his eyes at Clive's misguided view of his job security.

Still, that's not what's important here.

If Jude is actually interested him then that's only the beginning. Zero still has to prove that there's more to him than meets the eye, show that there's something beneath the surface. When he strips down all of his uniquely messed up layers, he realises that all that's left is honesty.

He goes with that.

“My real name is Gideon,” he admits quietly. He's never really told anyone, at least not since he turned pro. Zero is who he is in this world of basketball and fame, and he's never once wanted to be Gideon. To be himself. At least not until now.

“Why would you tell me that?” Jude asks softly, his voice a near whisper as he stares openly. His eyes are wide with surprise and something that looks like intrigue and Zero wills himself not to fuck this up.

“'Cause you seem like someone worth telling it to.”

Jude snorts gently, but it doesn't seem like he thinks Zero is full of shit which makes a change from all of their previous interactions.

“You don't even know me,” Jude says in an unsure tone. “And if you did you might not be so interested.”

Zero doubts that so he confidently says, “Try me.”

“Oscar Kinkade is my father,” Jude admits quietly. “I only got this job because he needed someone urgently and I needed some experience. If he caught wind of me even so much as sniffing around a player outside of work, my ass would be out of here faster that you can shoot a three pointer.”

 _Well, shit._ Jude's the son of the guy that kind of _owns_ him.

He didn't even know that Oscar had a son, probably because he always tries to keep a wide berth between himself and Oscar. There's something about the guys shiny suits and arrogant demeanour that irks him.

“Nice of him to get you the job,” Zero says because he's not sure what else to say.

 _“_ He only did it because my mom threatened to sell a story about his last divorce,” Jude tells Zero. “He's not the nice guy he portrays himself to be. I barely saw him when I was growing up and when I did... it wasn't great”

“Why would you tell me that?” Zero asks. It's one thing for him to trust someone with his secrets, but he's man enough to know that he's not mentally equipped to console anyone about their shitty childhood. Not when he's barely unravelled his own.

Deflect and distract.

That's what he's good at.

“I guess that beneath your somewhat sketchy exterior, you seem like someone worth telling it to.”

Their eyes meet and Zero swallows hard because this feels like a _moment,_ but suddenly, his cocky bravado has sailed out of the window.

He's not even sure what he wants from Jude, or what he has to offer. In revealing something _true_ he knows that he's teetering on the edge of no return and it's only now that he wonders if he's truly ready for that.

Something real.

Something that doesn't automatically come with an expiry date.

vii.

This time Jude comes to him.

Zero's in the gym working out later than usual because there's too much energy that he needs to burn off and it's not like he's going to sleep anyway.

With that in mind, he doesn't notice Jude until it's too late and he’s stumbling on the treadmill, his hands grappling air when he desperately tries to gain his bearings. He's closing his eyes and bracing himself for a fall when he hears a sudden movement and feels strong arms grab onto him.

He doesn't need to open his eyes to know that it's _Jude_ coming to his rescue.

Gravity being what it is, they both end up on the floor, but Zero's fall is cushioned by what feels like a very nice, toned body.

It's that thought that has him jumping up once he's managed to untangle their legs. After he's brushed himself off, he holds out his hand for Jude who takes it without a second glance.

Jude's hand is warm and dry against his and Zero can't deny the way the connection sends a tingle down his spine. Jude doesn't let go once he's upright and Zero doesn't pull away either.

It should be weird but it feels _right._

“Haven't seen you in a while,” Jude remarks casually, although the concern is visible in his eyes.

It's not that Zero is avoiding Jude, it's that he's trying not to be that guy. He doesn't want to aggressively pursue something he might not even be good at in the first place.

“Sorry, we've had a busy schedule over the past few weeks,” Zero says.

Technically, it's not a lie, but it's not like his back issue magically cleared up.

“Clive told me that you hired a personal physical therapist,” Jude says, and it sounds like an accusation.

Zero finally pulls his hand away, and he shrugs. “My team were concerned about my injury flaring up before the playoffs. They thought going private might help.”

That much is true, but the part where Zero didn't fight to stick with Jude still rankles. The guilt has been eating him up for weeks even though the decision was never really in his hands anyway.

“Did it?” Jude asks.

“I guess,” Zero replies. “They're saying I might need an op post-season. But we're managing it.”

“Good. That's great.” Jude doesn't sound like he thinks anything is _good_ or _great._

When he leaves, Zero doesn't stop him.

viii.

Zero finds himself rooming with Derek for their away match against Dallas. That would be fine and all but they're still not friends. Technically, they don't even like each other so it's like rooming with the enemy. Especially when he has to listen to Derek and Ahsha gush at each other via loudspeaker for an hour.

“Do you mind?” he grumbles when Derek is finally done. “Some of us are trying to relax here.”

Derek laughs easily. “You're more than welcome to call your girl. Oh. Wait. You don't have one. Guess you should have listened to the Roman Emperor.”

Zero narrows his eyes. “Calling yourself the Roman Emperor is a little tasteless don't you think?”

Derek throws his hands up. “Hey man, I'm bougie and proud of it.”

Zero stares at him wordlessly because there's no appropriate response to that and he doesn't think his reputation would ever recover if Derek beat his ass.

“You know, I was talking to that physical therapist recently? Jett is it?” Derek continues.

“ _Jude_ ,” Zero corrects him almost immediately.

From the look on Derek's face, his hastiness hasn't gone unnoticed.

“He had some questions about you,” Derek says in an extremely amused tone. “Didn't think much of it until I saw your little accident a couple of days ago.”

Accident? Oh. _Oh._

It was kind of ridiculous really. One minute, Zero was walking across the hallway innocently and the next Jude came out of nowhere and they bumped right into each other. Now, normal people without any tension - sexual or otherwise - would stand up and maybe apologise to each other.

Instead, they both avoided each other’s gaze awkwardly and Zero more or less crawled out of the way to avoid getting into a conversation.

It wasn't his finest moment.

“It's not every day that you see your teammate _crawl_ his way out of an uncomfortable situation,” Derek adds, like he thinks this is some big joke.

Zero tries to play it off with a dismissive hand wave. “You know me. I always roll with the punches.”

He desperately wants to ask about Jude's questions but at the same time, he doesn't want Derek to know more about the situation than he needs to.

“Jude's your mystery, girl, right?” Derek asks, revealing that he's figured it out anyway.

“He's not my mystery _anything_ ,” Zero snaps tersely because it's true. His actions over the past few weeks have cemented that fact. Even Clive has been giving him the cold shoulder over his handling over the Jude situation. When Clive is judging him, that's how he knows that he's seriously fucked up.

“Let me guess, things got a little too real for you and you did what you do best and disappeared,” Derek adds. “Kind of like how you play ball.”

“I'm not talking about this with you,” Zero says, dragging his headphones from his bag to reinforce his words.

“Well, I just thought you should know that Jude seemed really interested in how you're doing,” Derek says. “And you know what they say? Time waits for no man.”

Zero doesn't respond and Derek goes back to his side of the room and five minutes later, the sound of Bow Wow’s scratchy voice sounds in the room.

Zero turns to Derek and gives him an incredulous look. “Really? You're watching _Like Mike_?”

Derek sends him a shit eating grin. “I'm rooming with a big baby. Thought I'd pick some age appropriate entertainment. Enjoy.”

Zero crams his headphones onto his head, wincing slightly when he clips his ear.

It's going to be a _long_ night.

ix.

They don't advance past the playoffs and after they lose their final game, the team make their way back to the locker room in near silence. Zero keeps his head down because no matter how many times he's been here before, the loss hurts.

“Better luck next year, baby,” he hears Jelena consoling the team captain, Terrence, who looks like he's gathering up a second wind for when he inevitably tears into the team. After a major injury last season, Terrence hasn't seen much court time, but he's definitely made his voice heard off it. It's irritating and Zero's not in the mood for it.

He powers past both of them and heads down the hallway, completely bypassing the locker rooms. He doesn't realise he's outside the tiny medical room until he sees another player, Johnson, shuffling out stiffly. There's a bandage wrapped around his arm and Zero idly remembers him taking a tumble during the second quarter.

“You okay, man?” he asks. Johnson eyes his him warily.

“Nothing some ice and Vicodin won't fix,” he says. “Shame that we lost.”

“Yeah,” Zero agrees. “I thought for sure that we'd have a shot this year.”

Johnson shrugs, “Guess there's always next year.”

He leaves without fanfare and Zero is about to do the same when he hears someone call his name.

“Zero, what are you doing here?” Jude's voice sounds across the empty hallway as he approaches Zero. He's dressed in a blue button down and black pants, but Zero doesn't remember seeing him at the game.

“Did you watch us play?” he ask.

Jude looks confused as he shakes his head. “No, Oscar doesn't permit me to have tickets.”

The words sound thick on Jude's tongue, like it's bigger than he's making it out to be.

“Permit you?” Zero echoes.

Jude sighs. “That's how he phrased it when I asked if I could have a couple of tickets.”

“If you need tickets, just come to me. I'll hook you up. Screw Oscar.”

“I don't want to impose,” Jude says hesitantly. “I was the one who specifically told you that I didn't want preferential treatment.”

Zero laughs breathily at the memory. In hindsight, buying that watch was a complete dick move.

“Fine. Ask Clive and _he'll_ hook you up.”

Jude smiles weakly, his eyes downcast as he says, “Isn't that more or less the same thing?”

Zero shrugs helplessly and raises his eyebrows as if to say, _what else can I do?_

They're both beating around the bush and avoiding the pink elephant in the room but Zero can't find the words that he desperately wants to say.

_I'm sorry._

_I freaked out._

_Can you give me a second chance even though technically, I never really got a first chance to begin with?_

It all sounds wrong in his head.

After a while, he thinks _fuck it._ He's just suffered the worst loss of the season. Nothing he says now is going to mean shit. That, however, doesn't mean that he can't press the reset button.

“Hey, uh, after I'm done here, I'm going to go home and grab dinner. Do you...Do you maybe want to join me?”

After his flakiness over the past few weeks, Zero's not sure what to expect. If the shoe were on the other foot, he'd tell himself to fuck off. Whatever they've been skirting on the edge of since they met would be dead.

Buried.

He hopes that Jude's more forgiving than he is.

“I'd love to but, actually, I have a…I’m meeting someone,” Jude says. He seems mildly embarrassed but... he shouldn't be.

Zero had his chance and he blew it.

Jude deserves better.

~

“You know how I told you about my nephew. The one who accidentally outed himself via Facebook Live?”

Zero groans inwardly because his plan for the evening was to drink himself silly and forget that he ever laid eyes on the Jude and his stupidly handsome face (and then drink more to forget that he had that thought at all).

Clive is currently fucking up said plan.

“What about him?” Zero asks because Clive's nephew is a bigger fuck up than he is. Maybe whatever Clive is about to say will make him feel better.”

“I _may_ have set him and Jude up,” Clive tells him. “I was hoping that he'd tell you and that I'd be a big fucking hero when you got your act together but...I see now that I was deluding myself.”

If Clive wasn't a fucking giant who could probably crush Zero with his pinkie finger, Zero would lay him out right here and now.

Instead he settles for saying, “You set Jude up with your idiot nephew?”

“Hey, less of the idiot,” Clive replies, although he at least has the decency to look _sheepish._

Zero sits up quickly, not even caring that his vision is hazy from the alcohol. “Well, where's this date?”

“I can't tell you that. Look the ball's in your court. You just have to wait for him to come to you.” Clive looks sympathetic and that only makes Zero feel worse.

“I don't wait for other people,” he says defiantly. “Especially when it's not even certain that they're going to show up.”

Clive leans over and pats him on the head gently. “Welcome to the real world, kiddo.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do now?” Zero asks because he's at a total loss. He's still not sure what he wants.

“This is the part where you pretend to fire me and I go home to annoy my wife,” Clive says.

Zero just leans back against his couch and takes another swig of his warm beer.

x.

In the end, it comes down to this: Zero could sit in his house and feel sorry for himself, or he could... answer the door because whoever's there is one persistent motherfucker who doesn't seem to understand that eight am is an unacceptable time for a house call.

He opens the door to find a dark-haired woman standing on the doorstep, glancing at her watch impatiently. She looks familiar, but this is Los Angeles; everyone here looks like everyone else.

“Can I help you?” he asks politely.

She pushes past him brusquely and stops in the hallway. After taking a moment to wrinkle her nose at the admittedly gauche decor, she turns to him.

“I'm Lionel Davenport,” she announces boldly like that name is supposed to mean anything to him.

It takes a while for it to click but then it hits him.

“The coach's wife.”

“ _Ex-wife,”_ she corrects him. “But I've been doing some work for the Devils this season and I got talking to a certain physical therapist. I'm sure you know who I'm talking about.”

“What kind of work?” Zero asks, deliberately sidestepping the question. “I thought you were some hotshot actress.”

Lionel rolls her eyes. “I’m not here to talk about that, I'm here to talk about Jude. Stop screwing around with him. Go find some nice little girl who's willing to put up with your bullshit in return for some pretty trinkets.”

“And if I don't?”

Lionel smiles, but it's dark and menacing, and at odds with the cold look in her eyes. “You'll have me to answer to. And if you're not sure what I'm capable of - ask Peter. He's got a whole book of horror stories.”

Zero snorts petulantly. “I'm not afraid of you. And I'm not screwing Jude around, I was just confused. I got...scared.”

“Tell it to someone who cares,” Lionel says airily as she heads toward the door. “Fix things, don't fix them, I don't really care, but if I catch wind of you hurting him in any way, we're going to have another chat.”

With that final warning, she leaves, leaving Zero standing there wondering what the hell just happened _and_ how she got past the gate.

xi.

Jude's apartment building looks like an ant compared to Zero's sprawling house, but it's decent enough. He takes a deep breath and presses Jude's apartment number.

“Who is it?” comes the muffled voice and it takes every single iota of strength that Zero has not to run away.

 _You're a grown ass man,_ he reminds himself.

“It's... Gideon,” he says softly. “I need to talk to you.”

The door buzzes open without further comment from Jude and Zero makes his way into the building slowly.

“Can I get you anything?” Jude ask politely after he's let Zero in.

“No, just, sit down,” Zero replies impatiently.

“Should I ask how you know where I live?” Jude says when he sits down on the armchair across from the couch where Zero's perched.

“I'm a professional athlete, there's not much that I can't find out for a price,” Zero replies. “Except for why it is that people keep casting Rick Fox, seriously. Legend on the court, not so much on the screen.”

“Does it matter when he looks the way he does?” Jude says with a wry smile.

Zero stops to consider the point. “Probably not.”

“What did you come here to say, Zero?” Jude asks suddenly. “I am not really sure what you're getting out of all of this, but I can't deal with all of this uncertainty.”

“I didn't mean to jerk you around, Jude,” Zero says. “I can admit that I'm used to getting what I want. I chase after people and I usually enjoy the thrill of getting what I want. After that, I discard the _prize_ or whatever. Toss it away like trash. This time... I enjoyed the thrill but not the thought of what comes next. I didn't want to have to throw you away and...that was a pretty scary realisation to have.”

“Scarier than realising that you refer to people like they're commodities?” Jude jokes, like Zero's not pouring his heart out here.

“I'm saying that I didn't want to hurt you. So I left you alone... and then _you_ came to me.”

Jude looks down, “When someone tells you that you seem like someone worth opening themselves up to, it makes you think that maybe there's more to them than meets the eye. Guess I was wrong.”

“Look, how about we just start again,” Zero says, because the damage is done. He can't take back his shitty behaviour but he can try to be better. “Forget that I'm a basketball player and that you're the owner's secret son. Let's just pretend that we're two guys who like each other.”

“That might work in the movies, but this is real life,” Jude says. “You had your chance and you blew it.”

Zero's not about to give up that easily and he follows Jude when he stands up and heads into the small kitchen. He gets right up in Jude's space and tries to come up with the perfect words.

“How was your date with Clive's nephew?”

Not so much _perfect_ , but still a valid question.

Jude tenses visibly but he doesn't make any attempt to move. Zero steps backward anyway, just to give him a little space.

“It was probably the worst date I've ever been on,” Jude answers, frowning as he recalls the memory. “He kept trying to play footsie with me. It was kind of awkward.”

“Did you kiss him?” Zero might like to think that he's a relatively balanced individual but he can still feel that sting of the fiery jealousy that burned within him at the thought of Jude going on that date.

Jude rolls his eyes and practically pushes Zero away from him. “Why would I kiss a guy who plays footsie on the first date? If I didn't throw myself at you, I'm definitely not going to do so with Clive's nephew. I can't even remember his name.”

“It's….M... Ja--you know what, his name isn't important,” Zero says when he realises that he doesn't remember it either.  

Jude snorts. “You're ridiculous, you know that right?”

It's a testament to how much he likes Jude and how seriously he's taking this that he doesn't make a ri _dick_ ulous joke.

Instead he throws his hands up and shrugs, “Maybe I am. It doesn't change the fact that I like you, okay? I like you and the thought of not being with you has been driving me insane for _weeks._ You're the first thing I think about when I wake up. The last thing I think about before I sleep. You're like this weird fucked up alien that's consuming me at all times.”

Jude looks like he wants to laugh but he manages to conceal it with a lopsided smile. “I'm like a weird fucked up alien?”

Zero pulls a face. This is what he means when he says that he's not good with words.

“If anything, I ought to get points for being original.”

“You're something,” Jude says gently. “I've seen guys like you before, it's always about the chase, how much they can push before the other person shoves. I'm not looking for that.”

“That's not what I'm offering you,” Zero says and as fucked up as it is, Derek's advice comes back to him.

_Be patient._

“And I guess I'm willing to wait for you to see that I'm being sincere when I say that I want you, want _us_ ,” Zero adds, and he can't help it if he sounds _surprised._ He didn't know that he had patience in him.

Obviously, this really isn't like the movies. Jude isn't going to suddenly pulls a one eighty and fall into his arms while they kiss passionately. He might as well try to save some face while he can, God knows he's embarrassed himself enough since he first laid eyes on the man.

“I'm just…” he starts, trailing off before he shakes his head and adds, “I'm going to go.”

xii.

Zero doesn't leave.

He gets as far as his car before he sits there and exhales deeply in an attempt to compose himself.

He's on the phone to Clive when the passenger door opens and Jude slides in, with a thunderous expression on his face. He looks like might explode, leaving the pieces of shrapnel to pierce Zero's battered and bruised heart.

“You can't just waltz into my apartment, call me an alien and then _leave,_ ” Jude snaps angrily.

Part of Zero wants to run away and the other part wants to stay and take every word Jude throws at him. He wonders if he's going crazy (or if this is what _love_ feels like).

“What do you want me to do?” he asks because he couldn't have been any clearer upstairs. He wants Jude, and he's willing to wait for Jude to get onboard with that.

“I don't know.” Jude sounds petulant and whiny, but so help him, Zero finds it endearing.

“Okay, then, why did you even come down here?”

There’s a loud static sound and Zero realises that Clive can hear everything and he quickly disconnects the call.

“To do this,” Jude says, leaning in and crowding Zero's space until there's barely any room between them. He's not sure if they move in tandem or one before the other, but he is sure that this kiss is one he's never going to forget. Jude's lips are searing heat against his, sending a tendril of fire spiralling around his chest.

It's a little awkward because Jude's sort of jammed against the steering wheel and Zero's hand is trapped somewhere and starting to turn numb, but he doesn't care. He kisses back like he's starved of air and Jude's the only available oxygen supply (and _seriously_ , he's got to work on his metaphors).

They shift slightly, accidentally leaning on the horn; the resulting sound is shrill, deafening and startling enough to spring them apart (much to Zero's chagrin).

“Damn,” Jude gasps, his hand on chest. “That scared the shit out of me.”

Zero starts cracking up because he can't help it. Jude joins him after a few seconds and they just sit there, laughing away like someone's just told the world's funniest joke.

“So, where do we stand now?” Zero asks when he sobers up. He doesn't want to presume that the kiss means that they're together but…

Jude smiles at him easily, his hand snaking out to rest on top of Zero’s knee. Zero looks down at it for a moment before he places his hand on top of Jude's.

“I think you said something about us grabbing dinner,” Jude says with a small smile, like he's seeing something that no one else can see.

“It's not even midday yet,” Zero points out, even though, he could have dinner ready and waiting at his house in an hour if he wanted to. Somehow, he doesn't think Jude would appreciate that. The flashiness, the throwing money around to get people to like him.

“Well then, I guess we need to find some way to occupy the time.”

Zero grins because he can _definitely_ think of a couple of things.

“There's just one more thing we need to get out of the way,” Jude says suddenly. He looks so serious that Zero straightens up and starts to pull away his hand. Jude grabs it with his other hand before he can do so and he leans in and adds, “What about your career? You're an NBA starter. I'm a guy.”

“You're _my_ guy,” Zero says without thinking and then he plays it back and grimaces. He's about to take it back when he sees the stupid little smile on Jude's face. It's in that moment that he accepts that he's just going to be saying this cheesy, saccharine bullshit from now on.

“I'm still a _guy_ ,” Jude says worriedly. His brow furrows and Zero can tell that he's been thinking about this for some time. Maybe right from the beginning. “People are going to talk and it might get ugly. Are you sure that you want to go through that?”

Zero leans over and nudges Jude with his shoulder. “I'm sure that I don't care what those people think. Besides, this is just the start of whatever it is that we're doing. Right now, it's just us and I think we should focus on that before we go all crazy and let the cat out of the bag.”

Jude stares at him for a long moment, unwavering and unblinking before he finally nods slowly.

“It's just us,” he echoes. “I like the sound of that.”

Zero grins and waggles his eyebrows “I can think of a couple of other things that you might like the sound of.”

Jude pulls his hand away and rolls his eyes, but there's no mistaking the amused expression on his face.

“You're always going to find someway to cheapen the moment aren't you?”

Zero shrugs and says, “You love it.”

It's a joke, just three teasing words that don't mean anything, but Jude's eyes crinkle softly and Zero's breath catches in his throat.

“Yeah, I kinda do,” Jude says simply.

Zero could make another wisecrack or some kind of innuendo, or say one of the many stupid things rattling around in his mind, but he realises that he doesn't need to.

Instead, he settles on pulling Jude in for another mind blowing kiss.

 _Fin_.


End file.
